BTOOOM! Ep. 1

What would you do if you suddenly found yourself in the setting of your favorite multiplayer game like Halo or Modern Warfare and you had to kill or be killed? Well that basically summarizes the setting of BTOOOM. Beyond that it seems like a survival game story much like any other. I like these kinds of stories and so far there’s a pointedly amusing side to this anime that seems to be pointing jokes towards the NEET gamer stereotype as main character Ryouta refuses to find work even at his exasperated mother’s behest.

The only job he will even consider is his dream job working at the company that makes BTOOOM. So it’s an ironic twist to see him experiencing the reality of the video game he’s mastered. Most likely he was chosen because he was ranked 10th in the world for the game, but so far everything else remains a mystery. It’s not even clear that the players are in fact supposed to be killing each other because there weren’t any instructions for his weapons or his survival. It’s completely possible the unnamed man who attacked him was just a psychopath who jumped to conclusions after he got his hands on some grenades.

And that’s really all that can be said at this point about BTOOOM. It’s keeping things really simple, but I feel like there’s a lot of substance still lying in wait; ready to explode once the timer reaches zero.